1. When carving Cottonwood Bark ensure that the wood is no more than a year off the tree. Cottonwood Bark contains a waxy oil that will dissipate over time and cause the bark to become brittle and dry. Once this happens your chisel will break the edges of the bark, making it hard to create a quality carving.

2. Make a scribble mark on the waste side of a cut to ensure that you remember what side to make your cut on.

3. Static cling causes dust to attach itself to your faceshield. Wipe your faceshield with a laundry dryer antistatic sheet. Try a sheet that has been used in the dryer at least once because a fresh sheet will leave streaks and a sheet that has been used too much won’t have enough ‘cling repellent’ left on it to be useful.

4. When sanding by hand without a sanding block you can keep your sandpaper from tearing so easily by covering the back side with duct tape prior to use. This works well with palm sanders too.

5. One annoyance when using an orbital sander is that it continues to spin after it has been turned off. Instead of buying one of those ’sander sitters’ just use a piece of carpet that has a bit of pile.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

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